Montco D.A. announces arrests in residential burglary ring

NORRISTOWN — Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman announced Friday morning that Pennsylvania State Police, with the help of local police departments, have arrested Michael Benner Jr., of Limerick; Joseph Samsel Jr., of Limerick, and Philip Becker of Douglassville on burglary charges for a string of daytime burglaries and attempted burglaries in western Montgomery County and Berks County.

Each man is being charged with multiple counts of criminal conspiracy, criminal attempt, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal trespassing and receiving stolen property, the district attorney said.

Some of the suspected jewelry was seized from Dove Jewelry in Berks County and a search of Benner’s residence was executed and jewelry was found there also, she said.

The stolen items are valued at more than $117,000, Ferman said.

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The three men were arraigned on Jan., 31 and their preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb., 5 at 10 a.m. in front of District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar, she said.

Benner and Samsel’s bail was set at $50,000 unsecured bail and Becker’s bail was set at $10,000 unsecured bail because he gave a statement that he committed only one of the thefts with Benner, the district attorney said.

The following information from court records details some of the burglaries that Benner, Samsel and Becker are accused of committing:

• On July 20, 2012, a burglary was reported at the 100 block of Lederach road in Upper Salford Township. The homeowner told police that between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., the side door of his home was broken and that five long guns, jewelry and electronic equipment was stolen. The value of the items taken totaled $28,565.

• Approximately $5,000 was taken when a house in the 80 block of Reller Road in Salford Township was burglarized, on Aug. 22, 2012 between 6 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. The homeowner told police that someone had broken a window next to her front door and stole a jewelry box. Detectives Morris and Daywalt of the Limerick Police Department recovered the jewelry box at Benner’s home.

• On Oct. 1, 2012, approximately $2,000 worth of jewelry, cash and medication was taken from the 100 block of Meng Road in Lower Frederick. The homeowner told police that someone had forced their way into his house through the side garage door between 9 a.m. and 5:40 p.m.

• On Oct. 9, 2012, $5,000 of jewelry and change was taken from a house on the 100 block of Gerloff Road in Lower Frederick. The homeowner told police that the front door of her residence had been kicked in sometime between 1 p.m. and 5:10 p.m.

• On Oct. 11, 2012, a digital camera and jewelry were taken from a house in the 2100 block of Hendricks Road in Upper Salford. The homeowner told police that the rear screen on his house had been pulled from its frame between 5:45 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The value of the items taken total $770.

• On the same day, a Ruger .375 Magnum gun, money and other items were taken from a house in the 1300 block of Clemmers Mill Road in Upper Salford between 8:45 a.m. and 11 p.m. The homeowner told police that a rear bottom window in the back of his house was broken.

• On Nov., 27, 2012, a change jar and jewelry were taken from a house in the 400 block of Limerick Center Road between 7:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. The homeowner told police that the front door was left unlocked.

• A jewelry box and some jewelry were stolen from a house in the 700 block of Hildebrandt Road in New Hanover on Dec. 10, 2012, between 7:15 a.m. and 4:15 a.m. The homeowner told police her front door was forced open or “kicked in.” The jewelry box was recovered when Detectives Morris and Daywalt did a search of Brenner’s residence on Jan., 3.

• On Dec. 11, 2012, $1,000 worth of jewelry was taken from a house in the 10 block of Ryanford Road in Limerick Township between 8:00 a.m. and 4:45 p.m.

• About $2,000 worth of jewelry, money and video game equipment was taken from a house on the 1500 block of Gertrude Avenue in Lower Providence on Dec. 11, 2011 between 12:30 and 2:40 p.m. The front door of the house was forced open, the homeowner told police. Some of the items were recovered when Benner’s car and residence was searched by Limerick Detectives Morris and Daywalt.

• About $20,000 worth of jewelry and a Coach purse was taken from the 50 block of Keen Road on Dec. 17, 2012, between 2:15 and 4:30 p.m. The homeowner told police the side garage door was forced open to gain entry to the house.

• A homeowner told police that on Dec. 20, 2012, a man entered the house she was staying at in the 800 block of Sunnyside Avenue in Lower Providence. The man said he was looking for “Charles” or “Chris” and when the homeowner told him nobody by that name lived there, the man left in a blue car with a spoiler. The homeowner was shown a picture of Benner’s car and was able to identify it as the car she had seen. She was also able to identify Benner from pictures she was shown. Benner admitted to police that he had been in the house.

• On Dec. 20, 2012, $5,000 worth of jewelry was taken from the 3000 block of Arcola Road in Lower Providence township between 9:00 a.m. and 5:20 p.m., The homeowner told police the front door of the house had been forced open.

• About $33,000 worth of jewelry, coins and a computer were taken from a house on the 400 block of Colonial Road in Upper Frederick on Dec. 27, 2012, between 8:30 a.m. and 12:55 p.m. The homeowner told police that the side kitchen door had been pushed in. Detectives were able to recover property taken from his property.

• On Dec. 28, 2012, a Limerick homeowner told police at 3:15 p.m. that a man had knocked on his door in the first block of Keen Road and asked for Kyle. Police received conflicting reports from Benner and Samsel about their actions at this location. Benner told police that he didn’t remember anything happening but that he had been at the house after dropping Samsel at work. However, Samsel told police he remembered waiting in the driveway of the house while Benner went inside.

• On the same day, a forced entry break-in occurred at a home in the 500 block of Limerick Center Road between 5:30 a.m. and 4:50 p.m. The side door of the mud room had been forced open with an unknown object. Although neither of the men said they were at the house, the distance from Keen Road and the plan, design and scheme of the burglary is similar to the others.

• Between 11:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on Jan., 2, $9,000 worth of jewelry was taken from a home in the 100 block of Hill Road in Salford Township. The homeowner told police that a window in the front door had been broken.

• Between Dec. 23, 2012 and Jan. 9, 2013, $1,750 worth of jewelry was taken from a home in the 10 block of Mill Run Road in Limerick. The homeowner was on vacation at the time of the burglary.

• A house in the 200 block of Mountz Road in Robeson Township, Berks County, was burglarized on Jan. 14 at approximately 2:00 p.m. A rear door of the house had been forced open. The homeowner told police he was unsure what was taken because he was out of town.

• On the same day, at approximately 2:30 p.m., $2,000 worth of jewelry and credit cards were taken from a home in the 1200 block of Buck Hollow Road in Robeson Township. An investigation of the house revealed that the rear door was forced open.

• Jewelry was taken from a house in the 100 block of Kurtz Road in New Hanover on Jan. 17 at 3:26 p.m. That night, Limerick Township Police stopped Benner’s car on Ridge Pike near Airport Road and he was taken into custody.

About the Author

Caroline Sweeney formerly worked as the police reporter for the Pottstown Mercury. She is no longer on staff. If you wish to contact anyone at The Mercury about her stories, please call our main number at 610-323-3000 and ask for the editorial department. Reach the author at csweeney@pottsmerc.com
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